Rise in wire-taps raises hackles

Civil liberties and privacy groups have slammed Australian police and government organisations after a report showed a 20 per cent increase in the number of wire-taps placed on phone and internet connections in the previous financial year.

The report, tabled in Parliament by Federal Attorney-General
Nicola Roxon
last week, showed federal and state agencies, city councils and the RSPCA conducted 304,437 intercepts in the past financial year, compared with 251,733 the year prior.

NSW Police alone doubled its wire-taps and was responsible for a third of all interceptions. A police spokeswoman had not responded to The Australian Financial Review’s questions at the time of publication. The number of arrests made as a result of interceptions also increased slightly.

A spokesman for Ms Roxon said the statistics showed interception and surveillance powers were playing “an even greater role for police so they can successfully pursue kidnappers, murderers and organised criminals".

But Cameron Murphy, president of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, said the statistics showed that recent proposals to increase police surveillance powers and keep internet and phone data for two years or more was little more than a “fishing expedition".

The proposal, currently before a parliamentary committee, would see data currently accessed under existing legislation be automatically retained for all Australians.

“It’s stunning and completely outrageous that so much interception is going on," Mr Murphy said. “What seems to be happening now is this is being done as a matter of first course and not as a matter of last resort."

Past statistics collated by the NSW CCL show Australians are 26 times more likely to be placed under surveillance by government authorities than in comparable countries.

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A United States’ government report showing comparable statistics indicated a 14 per cent fall on the number of times its federal and state authorities conducted interceptions, to about 2732 authorisations during 2012.

Australian Privacy Foundation vice-chairman David Vaile said the federal government was yet to show the right balance between police work and personal privacy.